Search committee recommends AD

After a three and a half month exhaustive and intensive process, the Athletic Director (AD) search committee announced their recommendation to Dean of the College Clayton Koppes on Friday.

Koppes appointed the AD search committee in February. "We were charged with bringing a recommendation to the dean, which we have done," said Heather Hogan, professor of history and chair of the AD search committee. "The recommendation was based on a variety of things, most importantly being input from all constituencies, students, coaches, faculty and so on."

Gail Smith, assistant director of athletics at Middlebury College, met with faculty and students from April 29 to May 1. Carleton College's Associate Athletic Director Julie Davis was here from May 11 to May 14 and Andrew Hamilton, sports information director at Grinnell College came a couple days later. Milton Academy's Athletic Director, Mike Muska also visited the campus.

The four candidates met with faculty, students and Judith Sturnick, an outside consultant. "I was generally pleased with student turn-out in spite of finals," Hogan said. "We got some good feedback."

The candidates were also surprised by the large turn-out. "The candidates were impressed with the number of kids that showed up," Men and Women's Swimming Coach and AD Search Committee Assistant chair Dick Michaels said. "Twenty to 30 showed up most times. One candidate had been at another job interview that didn't take place over finals and said that only two to three students showed up. I think it was at Dartmouth [University]."

Though student opinions of three of the candidates were positive, the first candidate, Smith, was negative. Hogan blames this on external circumstances. "Frankly I think student reactions to Smith didn't go over as well as I would have liked," Hogan said. "The setting was not good. The Israeli anniversary was going on outside, there was a lot of noise, it was a warm day and a small room. It was not conducive for good talking."

Of the four candidates, Michaels felt that two were very well suited for the athletic director position. "Two of the four were very strong," he said. "We felt they were very acceptable. The other two were not quite not ready for a job like this."

All four candidates revealed their different qualities during the interviews. "Some candidates were very strong in their organization," Michaels said. "A few were very strong in schmoozing, in the sort of way that a director of admissions needs to have. They have an ability to communicate with alumni and people outside of the college."

"The committee brought four strong and viable candidates," Hogan said. "Each one had real strengths and differences. I'm quite proud of the strength of our candidate pool."

The candidates also knew that they would be responsible for helping the varsity athletic program. "All of them recognized the immediate need for help with varsity athletics," Michaels said. "But they were also strong in all aspects of the program, including club, intramural and physical education and wellness."

After advertising nationally in NCAA papers and dozens of recruiting calls from outside consultant Judith Sturnick, the AD search committee acquired a list of approximately 70 candidates. The list was narrowed down to twenty and then to nine during meetings. These candidates were flown in to Cleveland for one-hour "airport" interviews and then flown back. Of these, four were brought to campus.

Hogan and Michaels said they are pleased with the effectiveness of the search. "I've been here almost thirty years and have never been involved with anything of this magnitude," Michaels said. "We kept saying that we only need one [good candidate] and we got two. We've gotten support from trustees, [President of the college] Nancy Dye, and Koppes."

"The search committee really worked hard and we are all pretty excited about an appointment," Hogan said. "I feel very positive about the process and am extremely optimistic. It is an important process with a happy outcome, happy in the sense of the integrity of the process, the hearing of all sides and making the decision."

"I think the new athletic director will be a good person and the result of an exhaustive and thorough system," Michaels said. "There will be an improvement in the varsity program. It won't happen overnight and I'm not talking about winning national championships in every sport, but we will become more competitive. It will probably take two to three years."